Vegan Lentil Curry

This Vegan Lentil Curry is a healthful one-pot meal packed with layers of flavor, using ingredients easy to find at your grocery store. Perfect for a meatless Monday dinner, or any time your meal planning could use a reset button.

The culinary school I went to focused on very classical French techniques. Before dawn, the Baking students would get started on all-butter croissants. At the same time, the students running the school’s restaurant would be roasting veal bones for stock. An hour later, the Breakfast & Pantry class would come in and begin making hollandaise sauce.

The Pastry students came in later and would go to the storeroom refrigerator to retrieve an ungodly amount of butter for their tasks that day. The rhythm of the school was the same, day after day, year after year.

And in the middle of all of the animal bones and eggshells, was a chef instructor who ate a vegan, raw food diet. Well, he ate that diet at home. His job made it impossible to eat that way while he was instructing, as he had to taste all of his student’s work. But yeah, in his free time, he was a vegan.

Because of him, the students learned at least one vegan dish in those school kitchens that were usually full of roasted chicken and poached eggs. On my rotation, this assignment was vegan lentil curry.

The ingredients for Vegan Lentil Curry are easy to find at your grocery store!

carrots

onions

garlic

tomato paste

curry powder

ginger

vegetable broth

lentils

coconut milk

About this Vegan Lentil Curry:

Whenever I’ve had a few days or a weekend (or a vacation!) of eating kind of poorly, this vegan lentil curry is like a reset button for me. The multi-step cooking technique really shows you how easy it is to build flavor, with any type of ingredients.

Start by cooking some onion and carrots, and then you’ll be adding some spices, fresh ginger and tomato paste. You’ll cook those things a few minutes to really toast the spices and brown the tomato paste a little bit.

Then finally, you add your lentils and liquid and cook until the lentils are tender. Stir in some coconut milk at the end for vegan creaminess!

Yield: 4 servings

Vegan Lentil Curry

This Vegan Lentil Curry is a healthful one-pot meal packed with layers of flavor, using ingredients easy to find at your grocery store. Perfect for a meatless Monday dinner, or any time your meal planning could use a reset button.

Prep Time15 minutes

Cook Time50 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium carrots, chopped

1/2 white onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Pinch red pepper flakes

3 cups low sodium vegetable broth

1 cup dried lentils, rinsed and draind

1 can (15 ounces) coconut milk

Prepared white or brown rice, for serving (optional)

Fresh mint, lime wedges and pomegranate seeds, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

In Dutch oven or other medium pot with tight-fitting lid, heat oil over medium heat. Add carrots and onion, cook 4 to 6 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften, stirring occasionally.

Serve curry with rice and garnish with mint, lime wedges and pomegranate seeds, if desired.

Notes

Home Chef Tip: You can use any variety of dried lentils for this curry. I've made it with brown, green and beluga lentils, and it turns out great each time. Cooking time may vary by a few minutes based on what kind of lentil you are using, so just test for doneness as the curry simmers and adjust cooking time accordingly.

I absolutely loved this dish… I have always been a fan of both lentils and curry, so this combo seemed natural and hit the spot. I like the story about your Schoolcraft years when you were but a wee chef in training. So proud.

Hi, I’m Lori! I’m a Detroit-area culinary school graduate, food photographer, recipe developer and english muffin fanatic. This blog is where I post simple, yet special, original recipes for the "home chef" in all of us.